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Cooperation is key for humans' future in space

NASA hopes other countries will contribute to the US plans to send humans to the Moon

(Image: NASA)

NASA boss Michael Griffin hopes that international cooperation in space, such as that seen on the International Space Station, can continue in the US-led push to send humans to the Moon and Mars.

Such cooperation, and not science, was the top benefit of the ISS, he told the Mars Society Convention in Washington DC on Thursday.

“I believe the most important aspect of the ISS is the tried and tested partnership that has been forged among the spacefaring nations of Canada, Europe, Japan, Russia, and the US,” Griffin said. “This partnership has endured tremendous hardships, and stands by itself as a monumental international accomplishment. We can learn from this experience, and expand on its positive aspects as we move forward to the Moon and Mars.”

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He also said that he was looking for partners to make use of the space station for experiments, as NASA limits its own ISS research to the science related to sending humans to the Moon and Mars. Those partners could include other US agencies, such as the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense, and private companies.

Calling the shots

In April, representatives from space companies, universities, and other nations gathered at NASA-led workshops to discuss possibilities for what each group could accomplish on the Moon. Griffin says he hopes to issue a plan in the coming months based on those workshops.

The message is similar to that given by Griffin to the heads of the major space agencies at the Farnborough Airshow in the UK on 19 July. It was largely welcomed but Anatoly Perminov, head of the Russian Federal Space Agency, said that NASA may be “great”, but future cooperation should be on an equal basis. “We can’t have Mr Griffin developing a strategy and have every one of us just sign it,” he said (see NASA seeks help for human exploration of Mars).

On Thursday in Washington DC, Griffin appeared to agree&colon; “At this stage in the development of our plans, it is important that NASA does not prescribe roles and responsibilities for future international partnerships.” Instead, NASA will present an outline of what would be needed to deliver humans and their gear to the Moon, Griffin said, and other countries and companies can offer contributions to put flesh on those bones.

Sharply criticised

“We’re already collaborating with other nations on a series of satellite missions to map the resources of the Moon, and I hope that we’ll collaborate on even more missions to the Moon and Mars,” he said.

In September, NASA plans to award the prime contract for design and development of the Crew Exploration Vehicle, which would carry humans into low-Earth orbit and on to the Moon. However, the US Government Accountability Office has sharply criticised this move (see NASA’s plans could hurt Moon and Mars missions).

The agency will also soon award a contract for a company to deliver supplies to the ISS. After the shuttles retire in 2010, the US will have no domestic method of shipping gear to the space station.